An 800 year long story!Finished by Sher Singh

An 800 year long story;A jailbreak that led to the Kings’ return

Prithviraj Chauhan– the King of Delhi and Ajmer

Prithviraj Chauhan– the King of Delhi and Ajmer Ok folks, let me admit one thing;I am not a historian!I am just a teller of tales, I glean what I have heard, read or seen and then regurgitate all that in a manner that is open to all kinds of interpretation. Delhi is often called an unfaithful bride. It has never wed any one single dynasty, figuratively speaking.What I mean to say is the Capital of India , Delhi has had several suitors and the affair with each of them lasted not more than a 100 years. ! In the 12 th century, Delhi came under the control of the Chauhans, though it is a debatable point. It is said that King Anangpal Tomar bequeathed his kingdom of Delhi to his grandson, Prithviraj, who was then ruling Ajmer, a town in present day Rajasthan. Ajmer is a mere 100 kilometres away from Jaipur, the capital of present day Rajasthan. For travellers coming to India, Jaipur holds an important position as a city for tourism.Ajmer, which is west of Jaipur , is the gateway to the paths of two important cities, Udaipur and Jodhpur. Anangpal had grown old and did not have any sons.The elder son used to be the natural heir in the ancient days of Indian nobility.So, Anangpal was naturally worried about the fate of Delhi! One day, his minister suggested to the king , why does’nt he adopt his grandson, Prithviraj and give him the responsibilities of Delhi?It was an attractive idea and Prithviraj had all the qualities to manage another kingdom.He was young, brave and ambitious, he came from the Chauhan dynasty and was of royal blood.Anangpal was a Tomar, though. Tomars are Rajputs and trace their lineage from Lord Rama, the Hero of Ramayana and considered by millions of Indians as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.The Chauhans, like Tomars too, trace their lineage from the same origin. In due course, Prithviraj ascended the throne of Delhi and his grandfather retired to the forests and became a hermit. By the close of the 12th century, India had become a favourite target for the Mongols and the Turks for invasions.The first Muslim invasion  had happened in the 8th century A.D. Delhi was ripe for another invasion now and it happened in the year 1191 AD.The aggressor was Mohammed Ghori and he was from Afghanistan. The two armies of Chauhan and Ghori met at Tarain , near Delhi and the aggressor was roundly defeated by the young Prithviraj and even captured. Ghori was later released by the large hearted Prithviraj. Ghori never digested this defeat and the next year, he again attacked India.Tarain was witness to another battle but this time, Prithviraj was defeated , captured and transported to Ghur in Afghanistan as a war prisoner. Popular legends say that at Ghur, Prithviraj was blinded by his foe and subjected to numerous insults.But, Prithviraj was endowed with a special skill that enabled him to shoot down a target on just hearing a sound from it.He need’nt see the target but the sound was enough.One fine day, the prisoner shot down an unsuspecting Ghori with his arrow , guided by the sound of Ghori’s speech. To avoid a painful death, it is said that Prithviraj then stabbed himself to death.He is said to have been buried at the spot by the angry courtiers of Ghori .This event happened nearly 800 years back. Cut to 2004 A jailbreak happens in Delhi and a convict, Sher Singh Rana escapes in disguise to Afghanistan. Nothing extraordinary, except that Sher Singh was jailed on charges of killing a lawmaker or a Member of Parliament.The lawmaker was a lady and in her younger years was a bandit. She had shot to fame because she had gunned down a few Rajputs-Sher Singh was a Rajput too- angered by their torture and humiliation of her.She had served her prison term and was now a lawmaker but Sher Singh was filled with revenge. One fine day, he got his chance and the lady lawmaker fell to his bullets.Singh surrendered to the police and was imprisoned. He got his chance to escape the prison one fine day and left for Afghanistan on a mission.This mission was hidden deep down his bosom and he would never ever reveal what his mission was-not to his family, not to his friends! What followed was truly a story out of the countless fiction books! He went to Afghanistan, located the grave of Prithviraj Chauhan, exhumed the bones of the long dead king and came back to India with those remains! He wanted to give a dignified a cremation to his childhood hero, the King of Delhi and Ajmer and there was nothing that he would not do to achieve his goal. Sher Singh wanted to finish the unfinished story of 800 years! When he came back to India, he made his way to his ancestral village in the State of Uttar Pradesh and with great courtesy, gave the King a solemn cremation, as per Hindu rites. The King had returned to India after 800 years!